Catholic priest in Louisiana charged with child sexual abuse | Louisiana
A Catholic priest in the southwest Louisiana diocese, where the clergy abuse scandal in the American Church effectively began decades ago, has been formally charged with three counts of indecent behavior toward a minor.
A briefing note from the Acadia Parish Prosecutor charges Korey LaVergne, 37, with three counts of indecent behavior with a minor who was 15 at the time of the alleged offenses.
Court documents accuse LaVergne of “willfully, unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally” [committing] lewd or lascivious acts on [the] minor” — or in the presence of the minor — around January 1, 2024. The charges allege that LaVergne had “the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desires of either person.”
A March 11 document filed by LaVergne’s attorneys indicates the cleric chose to waive formal indictment and entered a written plea of not guilty to the charges outlined in the information letter.
LaVergne is a priest in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana. Another priest in the Diocese of Lafayette, Gilbert Gauthe, brought the Catholic clergy abuse crisis to the collective consciousness of the United States by pleading guilty in 1985 to molesting several boys he had met through his ministry.
He served 10 years in prison and now lives in Texas, and he continued to be named in victims’ civil lawsuits seeking damages from the Diocese of Lafayette for Gauthe’s abuse.
LaVergne’s formal charges were filed after his arrest in mid-January on the same three charges mentioned in the briefing note.
At the time, records showed that LaVergne, the pastor of St. Edward Catholic Church in Richard’s community, posted $15,000 bail less than 90 minutes after being jailed. This helped secure his release while the case progresses.
A week after his arrest, the Guardian obtained investigators’ initial report on the case, which said LaVergne was jailed after local authorities learned the cleric had “inappropriately touched a child” over the course of a year.
Lafayette news channel KADN reported Jan. 16 that another priest reported the allegations against LaVergne to authorities before his arrest.
A preliminary hearing in the case was tentatively scheduled for June 12 after LaVergne’s attorney filed a series of standard court motions, records show.
Neither LaVergne nor his lawyer immediately responded Friday to the Guardian’s requests for comment regarding the formal charges.
LaVergne faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.
Generally, under Louisiana law, indecent behavior toward a minor can be punishable by up to seven years in prison.
The state defines the offense as “any lewd or lascivious act…in the presence of any child under 17 years of age.” The law also states that messages – including texts – and actions alleged to constitute grooming may fall under this offense.
